In November, the weather is getting cooler, and the streets of Manhattan, New York, are wearing autumn coats.

There was a small café around the corner by the road, and two green vines hung from the door.

In the afternoon of the week, there were not many customers in the store, and on the table by the window sat two tall and handsome young men. On the table in front of their seats, each had a cup of fragrant coffee and two illustrated magazines.

"Don, I didn't expect you to adapt to the NBA so quickly, it's amazing."

Directly in front of Tang Wenlong, the blue-eyed young man spoke, with a look of envy on his face.

It was Andy Rustin, a team mate from Syracuse University who hadn't seen him in months, and tonight in Madison, New York, the 76ers will challenge the Knicks.

Tang Wenlong smiled faintly: "Andy, you don't have to worry, I think it shouldn't take long for you to adapt to the alliance." ”

Andy showed a hint of helplessness and shook his head with a wry smile, "Coach Mike doesn't like a player of average physical fitness like me, he wants his players to be able to run, jump, and shoot three-pointers, not just fixed-point shooters. Players like Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari are better suited to the coaching system than I am, not to mention Landry Fields, Tony Douglas, Bill Walker and others on the bench. ”

Tang Wenlong frowned, looking at Andy, who was pouring bitter water, and didn't know how to open his mouth to comfort him.

Mike D'Antoni is indeed a coach who needs a lot of pick-and-roll or athletic players, and in his system, Andy Rustin is still quite embarrassing, on the one hand, Chandler, Gallinari and others have compressed his playing time, on the other hand, his own ball handling ability is average, and his defense is not even as good as Fields.

There was only one fixed-point three-pointer left, which also seemed a little inaccurate in such a fast-paced game in the NBA.

Andy sighed and said enviously about Tang Wenlong: "Tang, you have made quite a stir these days!" At the end of last month, he scored 29 points to beat the Pacers, and then returned to the home court to score 23 points to beat the Wizards, and then beat the Pacers 101-75. ”

Tang Wenlong was a little embarrassed by Andy's words, took a sip of coffee, and responded: "Actually, it's okay, the coach gives me more playing time, and Andre is not the kind of team leader who particularly likes individual offense, so I have a lot of opportunities to attack independently." “

"Well, I don't know when I'm going to be in the squad." Compared to the two, Andy is even more depressed.

"There will always be a chance, train hard." Tang Wenlong cheered up his good brother.

After hearing Tang Wenlong's encouragement, Andy finally cheered up a little, with a faint smile on his face.

The two of you talked and I talked to each other, and from time to time there were bursts of chuckles, adding a little to the popularity of this quiet café.

After chatting for a while, the two men walked out of the café side by side, flagged down a taxi, and headed straight for the Madison Square Garden arena.

Madison Square Garden is a multi-purpose stadium in Manhattan, New York, and not just the home arena of the Knicks. It hosts major sporting events, concerts and political events all year round. Sports include hockey, ice hockey, basketball, boxing, wrestling, and more, and concerts like Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift have been held here not long ago, and tickets have been sold out in just a few dozen minutes.

It's a place where the lights are shining every night, and the stars are brilliant, even if the team's record is bad, the market operation will not be bad.

So when Tang Wenlong walked into the visiting locker room at Madison Square Garden, he was slightly shocked, this luxurious venue is comparable to a luxury private room.

"It's no wonder that teams like the Knicks and Lakers will always have scandals with big names, and big cities are different." Tang Wenlong touched the wardrobe door of the locker room and was amazed.

"Hey, Don, that's fast!" Immediately afterwards, the door of the locker room was pushed open, and the players of the 76ers began to arrive one after another, and as soon as they saw that Tang Wenlong had arrived, they greeted Tang Wenlong with a smile.

Nocioni, the old ball skin, was next to Tang Wenlong again, with a thick South American English and Tang Wenlong's bragging. "Well, I said this bowl belt is very powerful, you look at your games, how accurate."

Tang Wenlong glanced at the red rubber bowl belt on his wrist obliquely, and said with a smile: "You won't put any magic on it, you feel good recently." ”

"What magic?" Iguodala leaned over and asked.

Tang Wenlong laughed and said, "Andre, this is Andres's super magic from their Argentina, No, look at the wristband on my hand, after wearing it, I will hit every shot!" ”

"Really?" Iguodala immediately looked very cooperatively surprised, and then opened his hand to Nocioni.

Nocioni had a suspicious look on his face and said, "What are you doing?" ”

Iguodala feigned anger and said, "What are you doing, don't you understand this?" Isn't it a brother, send me one, I didn't see that I've been a little iron in the past two days! ”

Nocioni raised his middle finger and scolded with a smile: "Get out." ”

"Okay, it's too partial, I'll call everyone to come and comment!" Iguodala saw that Nocioni still dared to fight back, waved his hand, and called out to everyone, "Come and see that, Andrés's magic prop!" ”

"What a situation! What magic items? ”

Iguodala said, "Don is so accurate by relying on magic props. ”

"Damn, give me one!"

"Your sister, don't step on my feet!"

The locker room immediately became a mess, and in the good luxury private room, boys' clothes and basketball game protective gear flew everywhere. Collins, the head coach who opened the door at this time, was hit by a stinky sock from someone in a straight suit he had just changed into today.

The corners of Collins' eyes twitched slightly, and the veins on his head bulged.

"Boom!" Everyone in the locker room burst into laughter, and Tang Wenlong leaned forward and leaned back with laughter.

"Who did it?" Collins asked, braving the chill.

Everyone looked at each other, and each secretly skimmed the socks under their feet, like Tang Wenlong let out a sigh of relief, fortunately, both feet were already in their shoes.

At this time, I don't know which brother is talented, so he suddenly said in a soft voice: "Shaq also did it." ”

"Haha!"

The crowd burst into laughter again, and Corinth's tense face could not hold back, and he burst out laughing, and now everyone laughed even louder, and the howling of these ghosts could be heard in the corridor.

At this time, the Knicks' jerseys were changed, and Stoudemire led the way to the court, hearing laughter in the 76ers locker room, confused.

"What the hell are these guys doing?" Wilson Chandler couldn't help but speak.

"Maybe it's a joke!" Gallinari was at Chandler's side, so he guessed.

Then except for the two of them, the other Knicks players just glanced sideways a little, and then withdrew their gaze, their expressions were still serious, and the atmosphere was quite solemn.

No way, who makes one 4-1 and the other 0-4?

From the outside world, this game is really a game without much suspense, one is currently the first in the East, and the other is the bottom of the league, even if it has just started the season, the results and combat power are a little wrong, but the gap between the two should be obvious, especially when everyone is recuperating, the upset is minimal.

It's just that 76ers like to give big gifts.

In the cheers of the audience at Madison Square Garden and the bewitching posture of the East Coast fans, all the 76ers were completely lost, losing by nearly 20 points in only half time.

Thanks to the pre-game agent Joe Thomas, he also told Tang Wenlong to let him perform well in this game and frustrate Isaiah Thomas's spirit.

As a result, Tang Wenlong, who averaged 19.2 points per game in the first five games, only scored 10 points in this game, and only made 2 of 13 shots, which was better than Louis Williams. Fortunately, he hit all 6 free throws, which is one of the few bright spots.

The scene of joy before the game changed, and they got on the bus in a gloomy manner, and then rushed back to Philadelphia overnight in a frozen atmosphere.

It's just that after losing the game, Collins will not keep a straight face, but will comfort everyone along the way, saying that we don't have to win the first place in the East, as long as we can keep winning, etc., so that the pressure on the 76ers players is not small.

A day later, everyone faced the visiting Cavaliers at home and gave them a head-on blow.

Holiday scored a game-high 26 points, while Tang Wenlong and Iguodala combined only 25 points, including 18 points for Tang Wenlong

At this time, the general manager's office of the Philadelphia 76ers welcomed a special guest